Salah will only get better, vows Liverpool boss Klopp

Salah will only get better, vows Liverpool boss Klopp

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Mohamed Salah is too intelligent to suffer from second-season syndrome, according to Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.

Salah scored 44 goals across all competitions in a sensational debut season at Anfield, with 32 of those coming in the Premier League as the Egypt forward edged out Harry Kane to the Golden Boot award.

The 26-year-old already has two league goals to his name this term, and Klopp is confident Salah will continue to improve over the course of the campaign.

"He's not thinking about the end of last season, he knows our game here, he knows he had no number in his mind or thought, 'OK, let me score a new record,'.

"It was only ever, 'Let's score goals. Let's play football'. And to me he looks like he is exactly in that mood again, only with more confidence, because now he knows it's possible.

"But that is the only change. We need him to score goals but not overly. And that's how it looks from him. He's not a kid anymore and he doesn't expect that everything will be like this all the time. If it is not like that anymore, then he will dig deep, he is completely settled."

Salah's start to the season has been slightly overshadowed by his ongoing row with Egypt's football association, which resurfaced when he outlined his concerns over their World Cup preparations, but Klopp claims the dispute will not affect the forward's form.

"I'm not worried about his focus, because I spoke to him. I can't see that [affecting his club form] at the moment," Klopp added.

"It's 100 per cent clear – he wants to play for his country from his heart and he wants to play for us.

"The rest is … you have to sort it and they have to sort it. When was the last time Egypt had a player like him? They need to get used to it. So far, maybe it was not perfect. Make it perfect, and then everything will be fine in the end."